Box in the Form of a Precious Metal Ingot
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Caption
Box in the Form of a Precious Metal Ingot, 1573–1619. Porcelain with cobalt blue underglaze decoration, 3 9/16 × 5 1/4 × 8 5/8 in. (9 × 13.3 × 21.9 cm) a-base: 2 1/2 × 5 1/4 in. (6.3 × 13.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, The William E. Hutchins Collection, Bequest of Augustus S. Hutchins, 52.49.17a-b. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 52.49.17a-b_side_bw.jpg)
Collection
Collection
Title
Box in the Form of a Precious Metal Ingot
Date
1573–1619
Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
Period
Wanli Period
Geography
Place made: Jiangxi, China
Medium
Porcelain with cobalt blue underglaze decoration
Classification
Dimensions
3 9/16 × 5 1/4 × 8 5/8 in. (9 × 13.3 × 21.9 cm) a-base: 2 1/2 × 5 1/4 in. (6.3 × 13.3 cm)
Markings
6-character reign mark on base: "Made during the Wanli reign of the Great Ming"
Credit Line
The William E. Hutchins Collection, Bequest of Augustus S. Hutchins
Accession Number
52.49.17a-b
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
Frequent Art Questions
This looks so different! Can you tell me about it?
I love the shape of that box, it's so unique. The shape is based on gold and silver ingots that were still used during the Ming dynasty. What drew you to it out of the other blue and white items in the case?Definitely the shape, I like to think about what went into creating that shape.I'm sure it's more difficult to make than a typical rectangular box! The dragons that adorn the box are a symbol of the emperor.What's an ingot?
The word ingot is used to describe a formed piece of a raw material, usually metal. This ceramic box is the same shape that a piece of precious metal would be made into for trade, before it was made into something else.Tell me more.
Though ceramic, this box symbolizes wealth and status by its shape. As you may have read, it is shaped like an ingot of precious metal. The shape mimics the shape in which the metal would be sold as a raw material.The decoration of this box is also considered the height of sophistication in Chinese ceramics, having been created in the royal kilns during the Ming Dynasty.When was the Wanli period?
The Wanli Period was from 1573 to 1619, during the Ming Dynasty in China.The imperial kilns at Jingdezhen expanded a great deal during the Ming Dynasty, to the point that most blue-and-while pottery produced during the period can be assumed to come from these kilns.
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